8 Tips for improved focus

​In the world of time management and productivity, a lot of attention is placed on increasing efficiency. People assume that by getting more done, they are going to achieve more of the results they desire. There is a major problem with this approach​ i.e. what if the work you are doing is not very valuable? Getting more done is not going to improve the quality of your results, if the work you are doing is not important.  If you want to achieve better results, and create the life you desire, you need improved focus. Improved focus requires you to know what you want to achieve, identify the activities which will help you to achieve it, and focus on those activities. You can then, if you wish, focus on getting more of these important tasks done.

Time management and productivity are not about one off actions which reap great rewards. There may be occasions where you can take one action and see huge benefits but these are few and far between. Real results are achieved when you perform the right actions over and over again. It is this repetition which gets the results. It’s a bit like chopping wood. Occasionally, you will break through the piece of wood with just one blow but the most effective woodsmen will strike with accuracy (using the right action) and as a result, they will break through the wood with the fewest blows possible. The key to success is to take the right action, consistently. This consistency only comes when you manage to stay focused.

The real purpose of time management and productivity strategies are to ensure that you stay focused on your most important tasks, for as long as possible, each and every day. When you stay focused, you achieve your goals quicker. When you struggle to stay focused, it is like you are endlessly going around each roundabout on the road to success; never making a direct dash for your objective.

A great deal of focus revolves around cutting out the distractions, clutter and time thieves so that you can spend more time focusing on the stuff that really matters. When you combine this with the proper planning and organisation; you will have taken great strides to help you stay focused.

The following infographic provides you with 8 strategies to help you stay focused.

​Implementing the following 8 tips will help you to achieve improved focus. You will be clearer about your objectives and the tasks required to achieve them.

Before you begin any project, or chase any goal, you need to have a clear vision of what it is that you are trying to achieve. When you have a clear vision, it is easier to make quick, effective decisions. You can quickly divide activities into those which lead you towards your objective and those which do not. You can then eliminate those tasks which do not lead you towards your goal.

A clear vision of your objective also enables you to assess your progress and spot when you have strayed off track.

If you were planning a holiday, would you start making the actual plans before you knew where you wanted to go? Of course not. At the very least, you would take the time to determine what you want from the holiday e.g. do you want to enjoy some sunshine or are you looking to partake in some winter sports? What you want from your holiday determines where you choose to go and; where you choose to go will determine how you spend your time planning and organising your holiday.

​Goals are an essential tool for helping you to get focused. If you do not have clear and effective goals, check out the Ultimate Guide to Goal Setting.

​Once you are clear on your objective, there are many different tasks which could take you closer to your objective. However, not all of these tasks are of equal value.  Under the 80/20 principle, 20% of your activities produce 80% of your positive results. It is important that you take the time to identify these tasks and focus on them. This improved focus will lead to greater productivity and more desirable results.

When you have the end in mind, you will find it easier to identity the tasks which will help you to achieve your goal. Just as importantly, you will be able to identity what doesn’t work for you; allowing you to clear a great deal of clutter from your life.

To get the best results, you need to stay focused on the activities which bring you the best results. Just as you should invest your money in the investments which offer the best returns, you must invest your time in the activities which offer the best results.

​If you need help clearing the clutter from your life, check out Scaling Back.

Time is your most precious resource. How you spend your time directly impacts on every area of your life including health, finances and relationships. Nothing can be improved until you dedicate time to it.

Once you have identified the activities that produce the best results in each area of your life, you need to give these activities first priority in your schedule.

We are taught to think of time chronologically i.e. one minute follows the next and each minute is equal. Unfortunately, this isn’t ​the best way to look at time. Not all time is equal. The value of any piece of time is determined by the manner in which you use it. Time is like money; a resource. The true value of money does not lie in what you receive; it lies in what you achieve with it. Time is no different.

Spend your time wisely and you will be truly rewarded. To spend your time wisely, you have to focus on what really matters.

​For more on this simple but powerful concept, read – Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.

If you are like me, you do not always work from your desk. You will be moving around quite a bit. With this in mind, if you have many tasks, it is worth contextualising them. For example, I have some tasks which I need to perform at my desk, some for which I only need my phone and some for which I need to be in a particular location. By breaking my tasks into a number of contextualised lists e.g. at desk, at phone; when I have a few free minutes, I can easily go to the appropriate task list and identify the task which will give me the best result with the resources available to me.  The ability to think and act decisively is a major benefit of improved focus.

 I use Google Spreadsheets to record these lists as I can view and edit them from either my computer or my phone.

To stay focused and keep making progress, you need to know what you can and cannot do, in any given moment. You will not always have the necessary resources to complete every task in that moment. The tasks you can complete in any given moment are impacted by the following:

If you have a lot of tasks, you can end up wasting a lot of time sorting through which tasks you can and cannot do. What you really want is to be able to choose the most important task from a list containing only tasks which you can actually complete.

To do this, you can organise contextual lists which work with the way you work. Some examples include:

​No matter what the situation you find yourself in, having contextualised lists can help you to stay focused and keep making progress.

​For more on staying organised, check out The Organised Mind.

Ideas can come to you at anytime. Some of these ideas will be workable and can be put on your task lists immediately. Some of the ideas will not be viable at that moment in time. Despite being unviable at that moment, these ideas could be very useful in the future so it is important to capture them.

I always recommend that my coaching clients start a ‘someday maybe’ list where they can capture these ideas. They then review the list during their weekly productivity review and if any idea has become viable, they move it to the appropriate task list.

Part of the reason that good ideas keep jumping back into your mind is that you are afraid that you will forget them. And, you don’t want to forget a good idea; but once you have captured the idea, your mind will feel more comfortable about letting it go.

The key thing here is that you must then schedule regular time to review your ‘someday maybe’ list to see if any of these great ideas can be put into action.

​Make checking your 'someday maybe' list part of your weekly time management review. For more on time management reviews, read - Keep on top of your work with a weekly time management review.

​Rather than spend time thinking about and planning the small daily activities which you have to do; set up routines for completing them. After a short while, it becomes second nature to you and you do it without thinking.

No matter what you work at, you will have small tasks which need to be done but can eat up a lot of your time; more time than they deserve. The easy way around this is to make them into routines.

Routines lead to improved focus because they ensure that you get these necessary little tasks completed and; they allow you to complete these tasks with as little energy as possible. The more routine something becomes, the less stress and strain it puts on you.

​For a simple example of how routines can help you, read – The evening routine – end the day the right way.

There is a tendency to think that you have to respond to everything. This is not the case. There are many things competing for your attention on a daily basis and you could never complete all of them. Therefore, you need to focus your attention on the important stuff. Accept that some stuff will have to go undone; that it is unimportant to you and so you need do nothing about it.

Email is a small but perfect example of this. Think of the amount of email that you receive which does not require you to do anything with it. If you are on top of your email, you will realise that the majority of email only requires that you hit the delete key. With improved focus, you realise that it is you, not somebody else, who gets to decide when and how you act.

In order to stay focused, you must take charge of your day. You cannot let others dictate what you do and when you do it. Even if you are an employee, if you really think about it, you will still have a great deal of freedom about how you manage your day i.e. what you do at any given time.

Unfortunately, most people are not in charge of their day. They answer the phone every time it rings; they respond to each email as soon as they get it. When it comes to deciding which task gets done next, it is a matter of serving whoever shouts the loudest.

If you manage your day in a manner similar to that described above; not only are you giving priority to the wrong things. You will actually spend a great deal of time completing tasks which you shouldn’t be doing at all.

The harsh reality of life is that you will never be able to do all of the things you would like to do. You certainly will never be able to do all of the things which others would like you to do.

​If you need help changing your mindset, check out The Power of Choice: How to program yourself for success.

It is easy to get caught up in the planning stage. You want to do everything perfectly so you mull over every last detail in the hope that you can eliminate every issue. Reality does not work that way. If you are waiting for perfection, you will still be waiting on your last day.  Remember, once you have started, you have something that you can review and adjust but if you do not start, there is nothing to review.

For example, if I have to write an important email, I just focus on getting a quick draft written first. Once the draft is written, I can review it and make the necessary edits before I send it. This is far quicker than waiting for perfection to arrive before taking action.

Large projects can be one of the biggest causes of both distraction and procrastination. You end up thinking about the size of the project and this creates a sense of overwhelm which can cause you to delay your start.

​To improve your focus and organisation, check out The Modern Professional's Guide to Organisation and Focus.

​Improved focus is not just about getting more done. Improved focus ensures that you know where to place your attention so that you may achieve the best possible result. Increasing your efficiency can be very helpful but only if it comes after you have focused on your most important activities and eliminated the unimportant tasks. Improved focus will enable you to prevent the unimportant tasks from making it onto your task list so that you may focus solely on those activities which help you achieve your desired results.  Implement the 8 tips, listed above, and you will soon experience the power of improved focus in your life.